Fears evolve over time. What is one fear you’ve conquered?

I will have to say one fear that I finally conquered was getting married. I have had talks with myself through the years. They would go something like this. Hey self, ‘yes,’ “you sure your not gay,” ‘self, of course not, no way.’

I played high school football and had several different dates in high school. This one young lady and I had a bad case of puppy love that lasted about a year. Then a cheerleader from another town came along and that became more serious. She sent me a Dear John letter while I was in boot camp. I got to thinking later, never hit many home runs in high school, then I didn’t play baseball either. My second cheerleader was very special, she kept in touch with me while I served two years in Japan. I should have been far more considerate of her, for my future and hers.

I told myself dad beating up on my mother every other week had no bearing on me and my female relationships. My stepdad was a sex pervert who liked boys, that should’ve had nothing to do with me, he might have been an altar boy at one time.

I got sent to Japan for two years in 1960, a young lady working in our squadron coffee shop and I knew at first glance, THIS IS IT, we grew to be so close, it was as if our souls became one. In 1962 we said goodbye to each other at the train station in Tokyo. Half of me flew home the next day, the other half never made it back to the USA. We exchanged letters for a long time.

Miki

In 1964 my back was broken in a car wreck. If you are lucky enough to get your neck broke there can be sex after spinal cord injury. My fracture was in the thoracic-lumbar region, bowel, bladder, sex and one leg affected. I have often thought, that was my payback for being inconsiderate of my female friends and a coward when it came to marriage.

I tried living the life of a hermit for a couple years in Northern Minnesota. If you want to be a hermit, you better like lonely, that’s about all I can say about the hermit lifestyle. My cousin was driving a refrigerated truck from Sioux Falls South Dakota to Arizona and California every week. He talked me into working with him.

If we had a load of meat for Tucson Arizona, we stayed at the same motel every week, it was nice and they had a pool, bar, and a small dance floor. That’s where I met my wife to be, this was 1969. The family was even starting to look at me with that look in their eyes, is he or isn’t he, like marriage is supposed to be for everyone? I don’t think so!

We dated awhile, parked out in the desert and talked while listening to the Martians, desert sounds etc. We did lots of dancing, some drinking, then decided to get married, sort of a take care of each other in old age deal, that’s now where were at. She had four daughters and a grandson when we got married. After 44 years I have lost track of how many grandchildren and great-grandchildren there are.

I have told people she baited me with a ten-pound prime rib roast, that is true. The same way someone would bait a lame coyote.

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One thought on “Fears evolve over time. What is one fear you’ve conquered?”

It always seems strange to say “I enjoyed this” when much of the tale is a sad one, but the way in which you tell your story seems optimistic and as though it is not meant to inspire sadness, so I will admit that I did enjoy reading it and just read on! I appreciate your honesty.